Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.83 Per Share

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.825 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Waste Management has raised its dividend by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Waste Management has a dividend payout ratio of 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Waste Management to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.2%.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

WM traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,692,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,692,975. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.